Eric Musselman: 'What We're Doing Right Now Is Not Easy'

Razorbacks get win in a game over Tennessee that was bruising and not particularly attractive

Andy Hodges | Feb 20, 2022

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It seems hard at times for Arkansas coach Eric Musselman to be glowing about his team.

That wasn't the case Saturday evening.

After a 58-48 win over No. 16 Tennessee, the Razorbacks' coach was handing it out in measured doses.

"That was a great basketball game to watch if you like physical toughness," he said later. "It was a battle for loose balls. It was a battle on the glass. Any time you had the ball it was physical. Any time you had the ball around the rim it was physical both ways."

Eric Musselman-Tennessee — Nelson Chenault / USA TODAY Sports

No two games seem the same. For a team that has lost one game out of the last 12, this one was a battle that involved folks literally getting hit in the mouth ... and no whistles at times.

Since a loss Jan. 8 at Texas A&M, the Hogs have turned it around for a stretch where they've won just about every way possible.

"I can't say enough about our team," Musselman said. "To win at this pace in this league is really, really hard. What we're doing right now is not easy."

The one loss isn't one that Musselman says now had him concerned about this team.

"We're not always cosmetically pleasing offensively," he said. "But, man, do we play hard. When I say we play hard I'm talking about the last month and a half.

"Nobody in the country plays harder than this team does right now."

The Hogs are 21-6 overall and 10-4 in the SEC.

With league-leader Auburn getting knocked off by Florida, the Hogs are just two games back with four tough games left.

The Hogs have road trips to Florida and Tennessee surrounding a pair of home games with Kentucky and LSU to wrap up the season.

Right now, though, the goal is to keep winning.

Which is the only way to guarantee getting to the NCAA.

And that, as always, is the main goal.

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Published Feb 20, 2022

ANDY HODGES

Sports columnist, writer, former radio host and television host who has been expressing an opinion on sports in the media for over four decades. He has been at numerous media stops in Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.